Sole-sewing machine.



J. W. GODDARD.

SOLE SEWING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 30, 1913.

Witnesses 819,1 i

WW %q M J. W. GODDARD.

SOLE SEWING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 30,1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- lntented Feb. 15, 1916.

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Z'Tz/ U67 0' 7 I UNITED STATES PATENT oFFIoE.

, JOHN WILLIAM GODDARD, OF LEICESTER, ENGLAND, .ASSIGNOR T0 UNITED SHOE MACHINERY COMPANY, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

SOLE-SEWING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters latent.

Patented Feb. 15', 1916.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN WILLIAM'GOD- DARD, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at Leicester, in the county of Leicester, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sole-Sewing Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to lock stitch or other sole sewing machines of that type in which the work support is in the form of a horn.

The object of this invention is to improve machines of this type so that the quality of the stitches is improved and the rapidity with which they are formed in the work is increased over machines as heretofore 'constructed. a

It is desirable in look stitch sewing machines that the looping of the needle thread around the bobbin case that contains the locking thread shall occupy as short a time as possible in each cycle of operations so as to afford sufficient time for the operation of other parts of the machine; and it is also desirable that the means for looping the needle thread over the bobbin case shall have a continuous rotary motion to obviate the loss of energy due to inertia in stopping and starting moving parts of the machine.

With these ends in view the invention comprises for a lock stitch sole sewingmachine having a work-supporting horn and a reciprocating needle bar carrying a barbed needle that penetrates and then draws through the work a loop of thread from a. looper in thesupporting horn, the combination I of a di scoidal shuttle arranged to rotate about an axis that is so inclined with relation to the path of the needle that the body portion of the shuttle is clear of the needle bar when the beak of the shuttle is taking the loop of thread from the needle, and devices for reciprocating the shuttle bodily in an approximately axial direction,

first to cause the beak to engage the loop of thread drawn by the needle, and then to cause the beak to clear the needle and needle bar during succeeding rotations of the shuttle.

By arranging the .shuttle so that it rotates about an axis inclined to the path of the needle, a short and consequently a rigid needle is capable of being used in the machine, and by providing devices for. reciprocating the shuttle bodily in an approximately axial direction the shuttle can be supported and actuated without interfering with the manipulation of the shoe, and the shuttle While being rotated at high' speed can be presented to the thread at the proper time inthe cycle of operations and can be then withdrawn to allow other parts of the machine to do their work.

In lock stitch sewing machines it is found that the loop of thread drawn up by the needle is sometimes moved so far aside by the turning of the work that it is caused to miss the beak of the shuttle and toovercome this difiiculty a further feature of this invention consists in a device operating in the space between the shuttle and the work for deflecting the loop of thread to a definite position in relation to the shuttle beak just .previously to ,the beak entering the loop. This device is preferably operatively connected with the needle bar and conveniently it comprises a lever of which one end is arranged to engage the loop of thread between the shuttle beak and the work and the other end to be acted upon by a cam on the needle bar.

In machines of the type above referred to there is usually a whirl located in the tip or the horn, the function of which is to wrap, the thread around the needle after the needle has pierced the work. The thread is guided from the eye or thread passage in the whirl along the horn to a thread-restraining device, for example a locking device which locks and unlocks the thread at suitable times in the operation of the machine. The

thread whirl and the mechanism which drives it isso arranged in relation to the horn that the turning of the horn by the operator during the sewing of the boot around the edge of the sole does not alter the angular position of the whirl in relation the stitches formed are not of uniform character.

The provision of devices to remove or mitigate this disadvantage is a feature of the resent invention. For example, the whir, which isnecessarily of small size,

both-in diameter and thickness, can be provided with athread eye or passage, the und'erside thread" receiving orifice of which is approximately central with the axis of the whirl, whilethe d'elivery end is to one side of theta er point of the needle, andthe hole itsel would be of full size then hout its. length so that the wax and threa ,flufi' whichjnormally accumulates in' such .whirls 'ght'pass through thesaid hole and leave 'dle. 7 If the thread-receivingorificeof the eye in the whirl is not madeexa ly central there may be provided? means that,'as the horn is rotated,automatica-lly maintain constunt-or substantially constant the le'ngthof the bight of thread between the whirl and the locking device. This automatic means ml? comprise a thread Y ids-between which an the horn there is re ative movement durin the turning of the horn, the said move-' ment being to such an extent that the length of th bight of thread will be maintained constantor substantially constant in every position of the horn. One construction of the said automatic means that comes within the present 'invention comprises a thread read eye in the whirl, upon the opposite side of the axis about which the horn roglliide'which'is located, with relation to the tates and which is so operatively connected with the whirl that its position in relation to the same during the turning of the horn is maintained constant, and a thread eye carried by or movable with the horn and engaging the bight of thread at a point be tween the whirl and the said thread guide.

A further objectv of the invention is to provide 'an improved whirl, the drivin arts of which are completely protecte m wax deposit and thread flufi and which are stronger than those of whirls as heretofore constructed. A feature of the invention therefore is a whirl in which the thread e e orifice on the thread-receivin face of t e whirl is nearer to the axis of t e whirl than the orifice on the thread-delivering face and closed than inathe cient clearance room forjthe barb of the in which the driving teeth of the whirl are located adjacent the thread-receiving face thereof, or are located in such a position that they may be engaged by a driving pinion that does not extend to or project beyond the thread-delivering face of the whirl.

In such a construction of whirl the bevel wheel whichis employed to drive the whirl can be of a larger diameter than heretofore inasmuch as the driving teeth on the whirl with which it engages may be located either on the end of or on a ortion of the whirl remote fromthe top 0? the horn and consequently there is more room for the driving mechanism of the whirl. Furthermore the driving parts can be more completely inrior constructions.

These and other eatures of the invention including certain details of construction and combinations of parts will now be described in connection with a preferred construction according to the present invention, but it is to be understood that the invention is not to be considered as limited to such a con struction as it could be embodied in other ways without departing from the spirit thereof.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a front elevation of the machine with the base of the machine, the lower part of the horn and the needle and presser foot actuatin devices shown broken away; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same partly in section; Fig. 3 is a plan of the shuttle, shuttle carrier and their operating mechanism; Fig. 4 is a vertical section? t of the horn; Fig. .5 is a detail plan of the whirl and Fig. 6 is: a vertical section through the tip of the horn showing the whirl and its driving pinion and the needle in operative position relative thereto.

Like reference characters indicate like parts in all the drawings.

The machine comprises a work-supporting horn 1, a straight hook needle 2 mounted above the horn and arranged to reciprocate in a vertical direction to enter the horn after passing through the work, a presser foot 3 and a rotary shuttle 4 which engages the loop of thread pulled through the workiby the needle and passes it around a stationarbobbin case containing the locking threa The shuttle 4 is mounted in the machine so as to rotate in a plane inclined to the axis of the needle and makes two complete rotations durin each cycle of operations of the machine. l uring one of these rotations the loop-takin beak 5 of the shuttle passes near or throug the path of movement of the needle and engages the loop of needle thread held in the needle barb while during the second rotation the shuttle is retracted so that while the needle is entering the work the shuttle is free to rotate without fouling the needle or the needle-carrying mechanism.

rough the center of the base Referring to liigsj 2 and 3, the shuttle comprises a cup-shaped body'arranged. ec-v inclined to .the vertical within a shuttlecarrying casing 7 and a cover plate 8. The

casing has a sleeve 9 extending rearwardly through a bearing in the frame of the ma- "chine in. which the sleeve is longitudinally movable." In order that the shuttle may be moved into andout of the line of movement of the needle the shuttle-carrying casing, together with the shuttle driver which it contains, is reciprocated in the frame of the machine in a horizontal direction. The shuttle driver 10 consists of, a lever having two projections 11 extending forwardly from the opposite ends of the lever and arrangedto enter recesses in the back of the body of the-shuttle. This shuttle driver is pivoted at 12 to the end of a short shaft 13 carried in a bearing in the sleeve 9 and its rearward surface engages a cam 14 surrounding the said short shaft but fixed relatively to the, casing 7. The shaft 13 is rotated within the sleeve 9 and the cam 14 is so shaped that the shuttle driver 10 is tilted on its pivot 12 sufliciently to cause both projections 11 to engage the shuttle except at such points of the revolutionas it is required that the thread, in being looped over the shuttle, shall pass a projection, at which time that projection is moved out of engagement with the shuttle. This action is aided by the inclination ofthe axis of rotation of the shuttle to that of the shuttledriving shaft but if deslred it may be caused by-the said inclination alone in which case the part 10 that carries th'e projections 11 instead of being pivoted upon the shaft 13 will berigidly secured to it and the cam 14 will be omitted. o

The shaft 13 carrying the shuttle driver is held from endwise movementin the. sleeve 9 by a thrust block 15. which is screwed over the rear end of the shaft so as to abut against the rear end of the sleeve. To prevent the casing 7 from rotating with the shaft 13 any convenient means may be provided.

In order to rotate the shuttle driver a horizontal driving shaft 16 enters the rear end of the shaft 13 which is bored out to receive it, the two shafts being maintained in driving connection by keys 17 which are connected to the driving shaft and enter grooves in the bore of the shaft 13. Upon the rear end of; the horizontal driving shaft is mounted a spiral gear wheel 18 which meshes with a second spiral gear wheel 19 carried by an approxi matelyvertical shaft 20. Thisvertical shaft is rotated once during each cycle of opera is driven at twice the speed of the vertical shaft so that it makes two rotations during each cycle of operations.

' In order that the shuttle maybe recipro- V .cated' toward and from the path of movement of the needle as above mentioned, the sleeve is connected by a link 21 to an eccentric 22 mounted upon the vertical shaft 20 below the spiral gear wheel 19. Accordingly the link connecting the eccentric and the sleeve will have a slight vertical movement as well as a lateral reciprocating movement. The link therefore is connected to the sleeve by a universal joint comprising two lugs 23 projecting from the sleeve, a pin 24 passing through the lugs and a forked pivotal connection between the pin and the link. The arms of the fork where they lie between the two lugs are rounded and are of such a diameter as to engage'with both of the said lugs in order to prevent any slackness in the joint. The other end of the link is connected to the eccentric by an eccentric strap 25Iand to permit of the different motions of the link the engaging surfaces of the strap and eccentric are spherical.

The stationary bobbin case 26 (Fig. 1) containing thelocking thread is mounted loosely within the cup-shaped body of the shuttle and is retained in place by the forward end of a horizontal arm 27 arranged to lie in front of the bobbin. This arm is extension from the shuttle casing. The

other end of the arm projects beyond its pivot and has a notch cutin it which is engaged by a tooth upon the lower end ofa pin 29 mounted in a bear-in 30 in the proection from the shuttle casm (see Figs. 1

and 3) The upper end of t is pin has a handle 31 by means of which the operator may rotate the pin and so turn the horizontal arm about its pivot in a direction to move its forward end away from the shuttle so as to enable the bobbin case to be removed from or placed within the shuttle, the construction being the same as that illustrated and described in the patent'to W. G. Meyer,

dated December 31, 1912,- No. 1,048,565.

Upon the operator releasin the handle a spiral spring 32 connected with the vertical pin rotatesitin the opposite direction and brings the forward end of the horizontal arm into positionto hold the stationary bobbin case in place. An adjusting screw 33 is provided in the horizontal arm which engages the shuttle casing and limits its movement due to the spring.

- In order to prevent the stationary bobbin case from rotating and at the same time per- 12 mit the loop of needle thread to pass over it there is formed on the face of the bobbin case a projection 34: (see Figs. 1 and 2) which loosel enters a slot cut in the forward end 0 the horizontal arm 27.

This 1 projection is so Shaped that the loop of needle thread passes easily between it and the sides of the slot;v v y w Pivoted i 5to the fr me of the machine is a lever 35 extendin downwardly to just {there the work and bent back toward the axis of the needle. This lever is operated when the needle is at the upper limit of the stroke by a tappet cam 37 on the needle bar, acting on the lever aboutits pivot to force the lower end back causing it to engage .the loop of thread drawn u by the needle and to deflect said loop in ront of the shuttle beak irrespective of the position at which it leaves the material. A spring 38 (see Fig. 1) retracts the lever out of the way of theneedle when the ressure of the tappet cam 37 is removed by t e descent of the needle bar and an ad justable stop 39 prevents the lever from moving inwardly too far under the influence of its momentum.

The work-supporting horn 1 of the machine is mounted so as to turn about a vertical axis inline with the axis of the needle. The top of the horn is pierced by a hole'40 (see Fig. 6) through which the needle passes and mounted within the horn just below this hole is a looper in the form of a whirl 41 having. for the needle thread an eye or passage 42 the delivery end o f which is positioned eccentrically but which approaches the center of the whirl at its thread-receiving end. In the whirl is an opening 43 to receive the needle, almost central at its upper end, but bending away to avoid the thread eye 42 at its lower endand passing right through thejwhirl to allow of the escape of wax andthread fiufl which tends to collect in it. In order that the needle thread may be looped about the needle during each cycle of operations of the machine the whirlis rotated by means of bevel gear teeth 44 formed upon the whirl and engaging with bevel teeth 45 cut on the end of a shaft 46 whieh is carried in bearings within the horn. The bevelteeth are cut around the base of the whirl as shown inp'referen'ce to being cut as heretofore around the upper edge, since it is found inthis way possible to use a larger driving bev'el wheel and the gearing is completely protected from the entrance of dust and thread flufl, which has not been the cas'e in previous constructions.

This modification of the position of the bevel teeth on the whirl is rendered possible by the use of a thread eye approaching the center of the whirl toward its base, which thus allows room for the teeth without making the whirl of undue size.

The shaft 46 is rotated through suitable connections by a second shaft 47 (see Fig. 4) mounted to rotate in the base of the horn and having secured to its lower end a bevel gear wheel 48. This gear wheel is in engageaving its lower endment with a power-operated bevel gear wheel 49' secured upon a hollow vertical driving shaft 50 which also forms the pivot about which the horn is-turned. a z

It will be understood that the center line of the needle projected downward lies alon the axis about which turn both' the horn an the. Whirl in the horn. The ratio between the bevel wheel 44'formed in the whirl and its driving wheel 45 is the same as the ratio between the power-operated bevel wheel 49 at the bottom of the horn and its driven bevel wheel 48 and thus it will be understood that when the power-operated bevel wheel is rotated thewhirl will be rotated at the same speed'and in the same direction but that a movement of the'ho'rn about its pivot will not turn the whirl with relation to the needle.

' The needle thread comes from the thread lock in the baseof the machine and enters the horn through the hollow vertical shaft 50 about which the horn turns, it also passes up within the horn through a guide or guides and then through the thread eye 4l in the whirl to the work. If as is shown in the drawings the thread receiving orifice of the thread eye in the Whirl is eccentric to the axis about which the whirl and the horn turn a turning movement of the horn or of the whirl will vary the length of thread passing between the whirl and the usual thread lock located in the base of the machine. This has been found to lead to uncertainty in the formation of the lock stitch and, in the construction herein described, in order to obviate this a thread roller 51 is mounted within the base of the horn so as to deflect the thread to the opposite side of the axis about which the horn turns to that on which the passage in the whirl lies. The thread roller is secured upon the upper end of the hollow shaft 50 which carries the bevel gear wheel for rotating the whirl, and is thus rotated with the whirl so that it and the thread passage through thewhirl always maintain a fixed relation with regard to one another. The distance of the thread roller from the axis of rotation of the horn is such that as the horn turns, the amount of thread given up by the whirl is taken up by the thread roller or vice versa. Accordingly. rotation of the horn or of the whirl will not cause any appreciable tightening or slackening of the thread.

It will be understood that although the whirl above described embodies the present invention in its preferred form a whirl which differs only from prior constructions in that the thread-receiving orifice of its thread passage is located in or substantially in the axis of rotation of the whirl, comesv within the scope of the present invention.

While it is preferred to employ the specific construction and arrangement of parts 1. A lock stitch sole sewing machine, hav-- ing in combination,'a straight barbed needle, a shoe supporting horn, a looper located in the horn, a discoidal shuttle rotating in a plane inclined to the path of the needle,

means for imparting a plurality of revolutions to the shuttle for each reciprocation of the needle, and means for reciprocating the shuttle bodily in a substantial axial direction toward and from the path of the needle.

'2. A look stitch sole sewing machine, having in combination, a straight barbed needle, a shoe supporting horn, a looper located in the horn, a discoidal shuttle rotating in a plane inclined to the path of the needle, a casing in which the shuttle is mounted, a shuttle driver also mounted in the casing, means for imparting a plurality of revolutions to the shuttle driver for each reciprocation of the needle, and means for reciprocatingthe casing to movethe shuttle in a substantially axialdirection toward and from the path of the needle.

3. A lock stitch sole sewing machine, having in combination, a straight barbed needle, a shoe supporting horn, a looper located in the horn, a discoidal shuttle, a casing in Which the shuttle is mounted, a shuttle driver also mounted in the casing, coaxial telescoping shafts for imparting to the shuttledriver a plurality of revolutions for each reciprocation of the needle, and means for reciprocating the casing to move the shuttle in a substantially axial direction toward and from the path of the needle.

4. Alock stitch sole sewing machine, having in combination. a straight barbed needle, a shoe supporting horn, a looper located in the horn, a discoidal shuttle, a casing in which the shuttle is mounted, a shuttle driver also mounted-in the casing, co-axial telescoping shafts for imparting to the shuttle driver a plurality of revolutions for each reciprocation of the needle, an eccentric, and a link connecting the eccentric and casing for reciprocating the casing to move the shuttle in a substantially axial direction toward and from the path of the needle.

5. A lock stitch sole sewing machine, having in combination, a straight barbed needle, a shoe supporting horn, a looper located in the horn, a discoidal shuttle having a beak adapted to engage the loop of thread drawn by the needle, and a positioning device arranged to move into engagement with both sides of the loop of needle thread between the work and the point at which the beak of the shuttle engages the loop and aline said loop with the beak of the shuttle.

6. A look stitch sole sewing machine, having in combination, a straight barbed needle, a shoe supporting horn, a looper located in the born, a discoidal shuttle having a beak adapted to engage the loop of thread drawn by the needle, a loop positioning device on the opposite side of the needle to that on which the shuttle-is located, and means for actuating said device to engage the loop of needle thread between the work and the point at which the beak of the shut; tle engages the loop and aline said loop with the beak of the shuttle.

7. A lock stitch sole sewing machine,

having in combination, a straight barbed needle, :1 shoe supporting born, alooper-lothread between the work and the point at which the beak of the shuttle engages the loop and aline said loop with the beak of the shuttle;

8. A look stitch sole sewing machine, having in combination, a straight barbed needle, a shoe supporting horn, a looper located in the horn,- a discoidal shuttle having a beak adapted to engagethe loop of thread drawn by the needle, a loop positioning de vice comprisinga lever having one end arranged to engage both sides of the loop needle thread between the work and the point at which the beak of the shuttle engages the loop and aline said loop-with the beak of the shuttle and an actuating cam engaging the other end of the lever.

9. A look stitch sole sewing machine, having in combination, a straight barbed needle, a needlebar, a shoe supporting horn, a looper located in the horn, a discoidal shuttle having a beak adapted to engage the loop of thread drawn by the needle, a loop positioning device comprising a lever having one end arranged to engage the loop of needle thread and aline said loop with the beak of the shuttle, and an actuating cam on the needle bar arranged to engage the pther end of the lever.

10. A sole sewing machine having in combination, a straight barbed needle, a shoe supporting horn, a looper located in the horn, a thread supply point at the base of the horn, and means intermediate the thread de livery orifice of the looper and said supply point for counteracting the tendency of a rotation of the horn to tighten or slacken the thread.

11. A sewing machine, having in combination, a straight barbed needle, a shoe supporting horn, a whirl located in the tip of the horn, a thread supply point at the base of the horn,- and a thread guide having a movement with relation to the horn during the turning movement of the horn, and acting as the horn is rotated to maintain substantially Constant the length of thread be tween the Whirl and the thread supply point.

12. A sole sewing machine, havlng in combination, a shoesupporting horn, a whirl located in the tip of the horn, a thread supply point at the base of the horn, a thread J OHN WILLIAM GODDARD.

Witnesses:

FREDERICK WILLIAM WORTH, KATHERINE Pnx'roN. 

